1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a recording apparatus, such as a printer or the like, and more particularly, to a recording apparatus in which recording can be performed on a recording material other than standard paper, and the recording material is mounted in the main body of the recording apparatus in a state of being accommodated in a tray-shaped unit.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, a recording apparatus, such as a printer or the like, is expected to perform recording on each type of recording material as well as standard paper. For example, recording is performed on cardboard, a card, a CD(compact disc)-R (recordable), or a DVD (digital versatile disc). Such a recording material is sometimes smaller or thicker than standard recording paper, and it is impossible to convey the recording material by conveying means for conveying standard paper. Even if it can be conveyed, problems may arise such as inferior conveyance accuracy, damage on the recording material, and the like. Accordingly, a special recording material is mounted in the main body of a recording apparatus in a state of being accommodated within a dedicated protection tray, and is conveyed via a path different from a conveying path for standard paper.
More specifically, for example, a guide unit is provided in advance in the main body of the recording apparatus, or a guide member is mounted in the main body of the recording apparatus, and a tray is mounted while being guided by the guide unit or the guide member. When a recording material is mounted in the tray, a path for the tray is secured within the main body of the recording apparatus, for example, by operating a lever provided in the main body of the recording apparatus. That is, a sufficient space is secured by retracting a conveying member, such as a spur or the like, for performing pressure contact with the recording material from a position for standard paper. Then, for example, by further pushing the tray and again operating the lever, the tray is nipped by the conveying member, and the combined body including the tray is conveyed toward a recording unit and further toward a downstream portion.
As described above, conventionally, before performing recording on a recording material, the user must perform a series of operations of mounting the guide unit in the main body of the recording apparatus, mounting the tray, mounting the recording material in the tray, operating the lever, pushing the tray, and again operating the lever while confirming a tray pushing position.
When the user pushes the tray in a state in which the conveying member is not retracted by forgetting a lever operation, or the position of the lever is shifted from a predetermined position because of an incorrect lever operation, the tray or the recording material may contact a carriage mounting a recording head, or the conveying member may strongly contact the recording material (for example, a CD-R) on the tray, resulting in damage of the recording material or the conveying member, or great degradation in the quality of recording.
Furthermore, if the insertion angle of the tray is shifted due to a slight shift of the mounting position or the pushing position of the tray, when discharging the tray after completing recording, the tray may be damaged by riding on the guide member, or the quality of recording may be greatly degraded. In consideration of differences among users in the user's pushing operation, it is necessary to provide tray-position detection means for confirming the pushed position of the tray, and perform an operation of adjusting the position of the tray.
In the above-described configurations, a complicated mechanism is required, for example, because of the provision of a lever in the main body of the recording apparatus, resulting in a very high cost for dealing with a thick recording material, and an increase in the size of the main body.